Impossible Things
by Ayla Pascal
Summary: Luna's always tried to do at least three impossible things every day.


**Notes:** Thank you to aigooism for the beta! Story written for the Secret Coconut, a fic exchange promoted by the community Saint Seiya Superfics Journal.

Ever since she was five years old, Luna's always tried to do at least three impossible things every day. Preferably before breakfast, but she wasn't particularly fussed if it was after lunch or even after dinner.

"Keep an open mind," her father told her as he lifted her up onto his knee. "If you have that then everything else just falls into place."

Luna took that advice to heart. It made sense. In fact, everything her father said made sense. When their plums were eaten, their neighbours murmured about how birds liked sweet fruit, but her father took her aside and gently told her that it was Nargles.

He picked up one of the plums. "See those teeth marks? Birds don't make those marks when they nibble on fruit."

Luna's eyes opened wide. "But Mr Winters says that birds did it."

"Mr Winters doesn't know everything. Very few people know Nargles exist. They don't want to see them so they don't." Her dad leaned over and tweaked her nose. "But we know the truth."

Luna grinned. "Yup," she said. "We do!" She frowned thoughtfully. "Those people don't keep their minds open enough, do they?"

Her dad laughed and nodded. "They certainly don't."

* * *

When she was eight years old, it was easy to do three impossible things. Back then, everything was new and all it took most days was the spontaneous manifestation of magic. Luna was delighted and amazed one morning when she managed to make her cat vanish into thin air. One minute, Mittens was sitting on the windowsill sunning herself and the next minute, she was gone. Just like that!

Luna couldn't stop grinning when she told her dad what had happened. "I did it!" she exclaimed happily.

Her dad's lips twitched. "You did, sweetheart. But where did you send her?"

Luna's face fell. "I don't know," she admitted. "I was thinking of plum jam though." Luna bit her lip as she thought about Mittens wandering the streets by herself, but she soon brightened up. "She's a smart cat. She'll come back to us."

Her dad simply shook his head.

Her cat was later found in the local sweet shop. The owner gave her a rather bemused look when Luna came to collect her pet. "She just appeared in my cellar, poor thing."

Luna scooped Mittens into her arms. "She's always running away from our garden," she said. "Naughty thing." Mittens swiped a paw at her nose, and Luna ducked out of the way.

Her dad gave her a stern look, but Luna simply skipped out of the shop.

* * *

When she was twenty-eight, it was a lot harder to do impossible things. In fact, Luna couldn't remember the last time she'd done anything out of the ordinary. These days, she seemed to do the same thing every day. It wasn't as though she didn't enjoy teaching young minds. She could already see what bright things the current generation would do once they left Hogwarts. There were some brilliant minds among them.

It wasn't the teaching that was the problem. Luna bit down on her bottom lip. There was only so much routine that she could handle. That was the problem with Hogwarts. Everything stayed the same.

"You look thoughtful."

Luna blinked and focused. "You startled me."

Neville blushed. "Sorry." He looked somewhat awkward in the hallway, almost like – deep down – he was still the shy, teenage boy she had once known. He was different in class though. Luna had seen him teaching with a quiet confidence that kept the students attentive.

"You were right," Luna said. "I was thinking." She studied him carefully. They were colleagues and friends. He was the person she went to when she wanted to talk. There was something about Neville that made her feel comfortable.

"I need to get to class," Neville blurted out. "But if you want to talk..."

"I know where to find you," Luna said. She was surprised when she saw him blush again.

* * *

Luna found herself heading down to the greenhouses that evening. She shivered; there was a bit of a chill in the air. As she rounded the corner, Luna almost walked right into Neville.

"Luna!" Neville gasped out after they'd straightened themselves out.

"Going somewhere?" Luna enquired.

"No," Neville said, shaking his head. "I was just ... y'know... walking around."

Luna nodded. She understood that. "It's very nice in the forest this time of year," she offered. "I often go for walks in there, if you would like to join me sometime."

Neville hesitated before smiling. "I'd love that."

Luna took a few steps forward towards the greenhouses. She always liked it around here, especially since Neville took over. In the last few years, he'd planted a few plum trees around the entrances; the air was always sweet with their smell whenever she came by.

"I was actually coming to find you," Neville said as she walked up to the plum trees. "I don't think we're going to have any plums this year."

Luna's eyes widened as she saw the distinctive teeth marks on the fruit. "Neville!" she exclaimed as she grabbed onto his arm. "I know who ate your plums."

"So do I," Neville said. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

"Your garden isn't Nargle-proof."

Neville gave her a puzzled look.

"We had this problem back when I was a child," Luna assured him. She could still remember the smell of ripe plums when her dad picked them and gave them to her as a treat. "It's easily fixed. All we need to do is spell the area around the plum trees." She gave him a bright smile and was pleased when he gave her a tentative one in return.

She could feel a pleasant buzzing in her veins. There seemed to be a thrumming in the air, something that she could almost feel on her skin.

"Are you hungry?"

Luna disentangled herself from her thoughts. "I am, actually. Should we go and get some food from the kitchens?"

Neville smiled. "I think so."

As they walked off, Luna impulsively took Neville's hand. It felt warm. His fingers tightened around hers and she couldn't help thinking that – quite possibly - this was one of those impossible things.

* * *

When she was twenty-eight, Luna suddenly realised that she's done the most impossible thing of all. She realised that one morning as she woke up next to Neville and saw him blink sleepily at her. "Morning," she said brightly and was pleased when he grinned at her. "Shall I get the house elves to send us up some breakfast?"

Neville nodded. "I planted those plums for you," he suddenly said.

Luna blinked. "You did?

"You mentioned it when you first came to work here," Neville said awkwardly. "I remembered. Sorry about this year's crop though. We can always get some from Hogsmeade."

Luna could feel her heart pounding. There was a feeling inside of her, one she couldn't quite identify; it was a feeling of plummeting down, of spinning and whirling. "Next year's should be better," she said. "After I cast the anti-Nargle spells."

Neville grinned. "I'm sure they will be."

Luna leaned over and pushed a stray lock of hair away from Neville's face. "It wasn't so impossible." He gave her a puzzled look. "Never mind," Luna said as she leaned over and kissed him softly.

-fin


End file.
